How do I create a path?

The difference between agent-based and agentless paths

To create an agent-based path

To create an agentless path

To edit a path

To duplicate a path

To delete a path

You can create, edit, duplicate and delete a SurePath path in the Path Summary dashlet. Please see this article for help and information on creating and adding a Path Summary dashlet to a custom dashboard.

SurePath paths are displayed in a Path Discovery dashlet. Please see this article for help and information on creating and adding a Path Discovery dashlet to a custom dashboard.

Paths are created at the View level. If you create a path in a View, it will live in that View (but will be visible at higher levels in that particular View hierarchy. For example, in your network, you have View A and View B under My Network.

• You create 7 paths in View A, and 3 paths in View B.
  • At the My Network View level, you will see there that there are 10 paths in the subViews.
    • Go to View A and you will only see 7 paths.
    • Go to View B and you will only see 3 paths.

The difference between agent-based and agentless paths:

The agent-based SurePath technology uses tcptraceroute. tcptraceroute creates a tcp connection to the endpoint destination and sends packets over that connection, whether the endpoint is in your network or beyond it (e.g. to SaaS services). This method mimics how an application sends data over a network and therefore the user experience.

The agentless SurePath technology uses SNMP ping to poll the end destination device for a specified pair of devices.

To create an agent-based path:

You can only create a path from a View. With an agent-based path, you are tracing a path from the server on which the traceroute agent is installed to a destination.

1. Navigate to the SurePath dashboard from a View (such as My Network). At the top of the Paths (Path Summary) dashlet or via the dashlet Overflow Menu, click Create Path.
   
   
   
   
2. This will open the Create Path form.
   
   
   
   
3. In the Use Agent field, ensure the switch is On. This means you will be using the Entuity traceroute agent. Please see this article for further help and information on how to install the Entuity traceroute agent.  If switched on, a traceroute agent that is installed on your server will be used and path can be traced beyond your managed network. You can specify which agent to use in the Agent field below.
   
   
   
   
4. Enter a name for the path in the Name field and a description for the path in the Description field.
   
   
   
   
5. Enter a dns destination (e.g. bbc.co.uk or google.com) or an IP address in the Destination field.  You do not need the protocol ('http' or 'https'), because this is specified in the application port (see step 8 below), and nor do you need 'www.'.
   
   
   
   
6. Select the traceroute agent to use in the Agent field.
   
   
   
   
   
   
7. Specify the application port to use in the Application Port field, which must be between 1 and 65535. If you are tracing to a web application that uses https, then the application port will be 443. If you are tracing to a web application that is http, then the application port will be 80.
   
   
   
   
8. Specify the frequency with which to check the path in the Frequency dropdown field. Select from Every 5 Minutes, Hourly, Every 6 Hours, Every 12 Hours, or Daily. This is how often a batch is run - please see step 10 below for information on how a batch works in SurePath.
   
   
   
   
9. Specify the Latency Threshold (ms), which is a static threshold applicable to the entire end-to-end path. If the end-to-end path latency exceeds this threshold, Entuity will then identify the node in the path when the latency first spiked. To do this, Entuity starts at the end node (destination) and work backwards until reaching a node that has exceeded the threshold. Depending on the batch threshold percentage specified in step 10 below, an event will be raised.
   
   
   
   
10. In the Batch Threshold Percentage field, specify a percentage of traceroutes in each batch of traceroutes that would need to exceed the static threshold before an alert is raised.
    
    
    A batch is a specified number of traceroutes performed over a scheduled period (by default 5 minutes). Each batch relates to one bar on the historical timeline chart on the Path Discovery dashlet. Please see the Advanced Settings below for help on how to specify the number of traceroutes to perform per batch. 
    
    This is an optional setting. It is also only applicable if you have set Latency Threshold (ms) to a non-zero value. 
11. Click Advanced Settings to open the Advanced Settings form.
    
    
    
    
    
    
    1. Specify the number of traceroutes to run per batch in the Number of traceroutes to perform field.
    2. Specify the source IP of the path in the Agent Source IP Address field.
    3. (From Entuity v21.0 upwards) Specify whether to treat as failures those traceroutes to destinations that respond with tcp reset in the Treat connection reset as unreachable field.
    4. Click Done to save your changes, otherwise click Cancel.
12. Click Done in the top right of the form to save and create your path, otherwise click Cancel.
13. When you create a path, it will automatically be placed in the My Network View. Once you have created the path, select it from the Paths Summary dashlet, right click to open the Context Menu and then click Add to View. An explorer will open on the right of the window, in which you can find and select the View to which you want to add your path.
    • Note, a copy of the original path will remain in the My Network View as well. If you edit the path in either My Network View or the Subview that you have selected, the other copy of the path will be automatically updated as well.

To create an agentless path:

You can only create a path from a View.

1. Navigate to the SurePath dashboard from a View (such as My Network). 
2. At the top of the Paths (Path Summary) dashlet, click Create Path. This will open the Create Path form.
3. In the Server dropdown field, select the Entuity server on which you want to create your path.
4. In the Use Agent field, turn the switch to Off. This means you will not be using the Entuity traceroute agent, and instead will be using SNMP ping. With the agent switched off, you will only be able to create a path within your network.
5. Enter a name for the path in the Name field.
6. Enter a description for the path in the Description field.
7. Enter a dns destination (e.g. bbc.co.uk or google.com) or an IP address in the Destination field.  You do not need the protocol ('http' or 'https'), nor do you need 'www.'.
8. Specify the zone in which the path end destination is located, if appropriate, in the Destination Zone field.
9. Enter a URL destination (e.g. bbc.co.uk) or an IP address in the Source field.
10. Specify the zone in which the path source is located, if appropriate, in the Source Zone field.
11. Specify the frequency with which to check the path in the Frequency dropdown field. Select from Every 5 Minutes, Hourly, Every 6 Hours, Every 12 Hours, or Daily.
12. Click Done in the top right of the form to sasve and create your path, otherwise click Cancel.
13. When you create a path, it will automatically be placed in the My Network View. Once you have created the path, select it from the Paths Summary dashlet, right click to open the Context Menu and then click Add to View. An explorer will open on the right of the window, in which you can find and select the View to which you want to add your path.
    • Note, a copy of the original path will remain in the My Network View as well. If you edit the path in either My Network View or the Subview that you have selected, the other copy of the path will be automatically updated as well.

To edit a path:

1. Navigate to the SurePath dashboard and select the path that you want to edit in the Paths (Path Summary) dashlet.
2. Click Edit Path in the dashlet Overflow Menu or via the right-click Context Menu.
   
   
   
   
3. This will open the Edit - [path name] form, which you can edit. Note, you will not be able to edit whether the path is using the Entuity tcptraceroute agent.
4. Click Done to save your changes, otherwise click Cancel.

Note, when you edit a path in either the My Network View or the Subview, the other copy of it will be automatically updated as well.

To duplicate a path:

You can duplicate a traceroute path that you have already created. The duplicated path will have its parameters based on the existing path (though the Required and Blacklisted nodes are not carried over), which you can then immediately edit as you desire.

1. Navigate to the SurePath dashboard and select the path that you want to edit in the Paths (Path Summary) dashlet.
2. Click Duplicate Path in the dashlet Overflow Menu or via the right-click Context Menu.
   
   
   
   
3. The Create Path form will open, with the parameter fields already populated with the existing paths details. Edit these fields as you desire.
4. Click Done to save and create your new path, otherwise click Cancel.
5. The duplicated path will appear in the My Network View. To add the path to a Subview of your choice, select it from the Paths Summary dashlet, right click to open the Context Menu and then click Add to View. An explorer will open on the right of the window, in which you can find and select the View to which you want to add your path.
   • Note, a copy of the duplicated path will remain in the My Network View as well. If you edit the path in either My Network View or the Subview that you have selected, the other copy of the path will be automatically updated as well.

To remove a path:

1. Navigate to the SurePath dashboard and select the path that you want to remove in the Paths (Path Summary) dashlet.
2. Click Remove Path in the dashlet Overflow Menu or via the right-click Context Menu.
   
   
   
   
3. A window will open asking you to confirm the deletion. Click Yes to proceed, otherwise click No.